A man has described wrestling to the floor a former doorman who came at him with a hammer shortly before he died on the ground.

Michael Hawes, 50, was found dead by police and paramedics in Leedstown near Hayle on February 23, 2016.

That night Mr Hawes had gone to the home of Elizabeth and Michael Pearce whose son Simon was also living in the property at the time.

An inquest into the death of Mr Hawes, held at Truro Coroner’s Court, heard from members of the Pearce family, including Simon, who told the court that he had answered the door on the night in question to find an abusive Mr Hawes coming at him.

A tussle then ensued before Simon Pearce was able to wrestle Mr Hawes to the ground and take the knife from him, before restraining him and waiting until the emergency services arrived.

However, when the emergency services arrived Mr Hawes was found dead.

The inquest was told how villagers in Leedstown had branded Mr Hawes ‘Mental Micky’ and that he had on a previous occasion smashed windows at the Pearce home, however no further police action was taken.

When asked what happened he said: “It was in the early hours when I heard the doorbell and mum crying. I went through the hall into the porch and saw an intruder in the drive, I knew it to be Micky.

“I told mum to phone the police and opened the door and he started saying ‘I’m going to f**king have you now’. I told him to go away but he came at me with his hands behind his back and then I saw he had a hammer. I was in the porch and he was trying to hit me. It all happened so fast, I was petrified, I didn’t know if he had a knife or a needle on him as well.

“I grabbed hold, got him on the floor and all the time he was threatening me. I had his hands behind his back and managed to take the hammer away. It happened quite quickly.

“He was threatening me on the floor and then went quiet before he started threatening me again.”

Simon Pearce described how he suffered bruises to his hands when he was hit by the hammer and how his parents were in a state of panic during the incident.

Both Simon Pearce and his father Michael were arrested and later released following the incident.

When asked about his family’s history with Mr Hawes, Simon Pearce said that he was not living in the home when the windows were smashed and was not aware of any issues ongoing with him.

It was put to him that he once went to Mr Hawes’ home whilst drunk, to which he answered no comment.

He also answered no comment to other claims from Hawes’ friends that Hawes was scared of Simon Pearce and feared he would do him harm.

Michael Pearce told the inquest that he did not make any upsetting comments about Mr Hawes either and that as far as he was concerned, any issues over the window had gone and Mr Hawes even spoke to his wife when they met in the village.

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He also said that he didn’t know of Simon’s struggle with Mr Hawes until he saw him on the floor outside, a theory doubted by Dr Carlyon. He added that he didn’t ‘pull his leg’ with humour in the days leading up to his death.

Earlier in the inquest it was heard that Mr Hawes struggled with a drink problem, as well as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from an incident where he was struck by a moving car.

The divorced father-of-two had spent time living on the streets and been in contact with the mental health services regarding a previous suicide attempt.

Giving her evidence via a video link, pathologist Amanda Jeffrey said: “In the early hours of February 23 Michael Hawes attended the property of the Pearce family and threatened them and struck out before being manhandled to the ground and restrained. At some point during the sequence of events he became unresponsive.

“Paramedics attended but were able to resuscitate him. He was a large man and the evidence suggests that he was held face down on the floor with an arm behind his back. Lying in a face down position can compromise breathing with larger individuals.

“He was under the influence of alcohol and it is possible that the alcohol concentration in his blood may have played a part in his death along with other complicating factors.”

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Ms Jeffrey then explained how Mr Hawes was found with bruising and grazing, which she says could have been the result of grappling.

He had a mark across his neck which matched the collar of a rugby top he was wearing, prompting Ms Jeffrey to state her belief that the collar of the clothing was at some point pulled from behind, presumably during the restraint effort.

Mr Hawes also suffered fractures to his voicebox, Ms Jeffrey saying it was a clear sign of a form of compression of the neck.

She added: “The neck compression was a significant factor in Mr Hawes’ death and that fact he was in a face down position also played a role in leading to a cardiovascular arrest.

"There was clearly sufficient force applied to the neck to cause the voice box fractures and the death could have been an inadvertent result of attempts to restrain him.”

Ms Jeffrey describing “a perfect storm of factors” said that in her opinion Mr Hawes’ death was caused by the combined effects of a neck compression, a large male lying in a dangerous face down position and alcohol.

Self-employed carpenter Simon Pearce said that he did not pull the collar of Mr Hawes’ shirt when moving him into the porch from the doorway.

He also speculated that the neck mark was caused by falling onto a raised part of the door frame.